1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to hand accessories and more particularly to those useful for improving power transmission between the hand and the handle of an implement, such as a piece of sports equipment or a tool.
2. Prior Art
When gripping and swinging a baseball bat, tennis racquet, hockey stick or hammer, there is a space between the handle and the base of the thumb and the forefinger, filled with a loose compressible web of skin. This area is a low density space which contains no bone or muscle. When the player swings the bat, racquet or stick or strikes the ball or puck, the force of impact recoils the bat handle, racquet handle or stick handle back into the web, compressing it. This absorbs and dissipates energy otherwise transmissible to the ball or puck, thus causing a weaker than optimal shot. No matter how tightly one grips the handle, this space remains soft like a sponge. Even before the ball or puck is hit, at the start of the swing, the hand or hands holding the handle move forward but the inertia of the bat causes it to move back, relatively speaking, into the web, compressing it. The handle then loses speed and must eventually catch up with the front of the hands. Both timing and power, as well as bat, racket or stick speed are lost, with the final result a less than optimal or full-force shot. U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,043 seeks to provide a cushion in the hand web but does not improve speed or power transmission between the hand and handle of a baseball bat.
There remains a need for a simple device capable of increasing bat, racquet or hockey stick speed and of improving force transmission between the hand and handle of the bat, racquet or hockey stick for improved power hitting of a ball or puck. The device should be capable of being made in a variety of sizes and shapes and forms, and be capable of protecting the hand against injury. It should be utilizable with barbell weight lifting and other sports, and with various tools, such as hammers, etc. It also should reduce strain on the fingers.